We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Trachele Shields a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Trachele, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. The first dollar your firm earns is always special. We’d love to hear about how you got your first client that wasn’t a friend or family.

I hadn’t been selling real estate that long and had only closed one deal for a friend of a friend, so this was technically my first transaction. I partnered up with a local loan officer and together we reached out to various schools and offered to present a homebuyer readiness workshop. Most of the schools said no, but the one that said yes was an elementary school with a lot of interested teachers. Our pre registration list was long and I was nervous. Even though I spent time in Toastmasters, public speaking still made me anxious. My partner and I catered the event since the teachers were giving up their lunch break to listen to us. We prepared handouts and a powerpoint presentation. I let my partner take the lead during the first presentation while I stood off to the side, smiling and clicking on the next slide. During the second presentation, I warmed up a bit and actually presented the first half of the workshop. I spoke off the cuff and didn’t use the slides or the handouts. I even answered questions at the end. Many of the teachers wanted more information, but only one was ready right then and there to take the next step. We exchanged contact information and I followed up with her the next day. She explained her goals to me and made me aware of what she thought were her potential obstacles to homeownership. Then I went to work on helping with forming her budget, narrowing down her absolute home must haves and getting her pre approved for a mortgage. We found the perfect home for her and her family and ended up getting her 100% financing with no closing cost or down payment and a seller concession to help with prepaids and home updates.

Trachele, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I consider myself to be a real estate and digital entrepreneur. I am currently an associate broker with La Rosa Realty North Florida and I created the real estate investment group Create Real Estate Wealth (C.R.E.W). C.R.E.W is not just an investment group, but an economic movement with the mission of using collaborative effort and group economics to help individuals learn, grow and prosper together. C.R.E.W has an online academy and uses social media to teach traditional and non traditional real estate concepts. C.R.E.W also creates and publishes educational e-books and online courses centered around real estate, business and credit.

My interest in real estate started as a teenager growing up in California. Over the years, I watched my parents buy and sell multiple properties. I eventually moved to Florida and ended up obtaining my real estate sales associate license in 2008. My interest in real estate continued as I watched shows like: House Hunters, Flip This House, Flipping Out and Fixer Upper. I loved seeing homes be transformed and made new. I enjoyed watching people get matched to the homes that suited their needs and I loved the opportunities that real estate provided to build wealth and create time freedom.

I wanted to learn as much as possible about real estate, design, architecture, etc. I decided to further my real estate knowledge by obtaining my broker’s license in May 2022 and I have completed courses in design theory, staging and basic construction. I combine this knowledge with more than a decade of mortgage banking and underwriting experience to deliver best in class service to clients. I have had the benefit of gaining experience working in all market types. I have specialized knowledge in how to purchase and finance condominiums, cooperatives, short sales, foreclosures, real estate owned (r.e.o) properties, second homes and short term rentals.

I offer a total consultative approach to real estate that includes a thorough conversation to determine your specific goals and needs. From there we map out a game plan and establish a base timeline to achieve your goals. Then we execute. I am proud of the fact that every client who has allowed me to assist them with home purchase has successfully purchased one. All of them purchased with little to no money down or were able to close with instant equity. All of my listings sold within 98% of the list price or above ask. I take great pride in sharing knowledge and resources that lead to helping clients achieve their goals.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I built my audience on social media by posting relatable and educational content along with some day in the life vlogs. My Instagram account is used for my personal brand and I share snippets of my life, hobbies, interest, advocacy and real estate business on there. I share things ranging from my work as an ambassador for the Lupus Foundation of America, specifically the Southeast region, cute photos and videos of my fur children, day in the life videos from my point of view as a chronic illness warrior and a realtor trying to build her business and brand. I post interactive stories and give call to actions to my audience. I encourage my audience to ask me questions so that they can get to know me better. My TikTok account is very niche and used solely for business and real estate content. I post tips, how to content, commentary and occassional skits. I go live after posting videos so that I can build a more engaged audience and I share the videos to my story. I encourage my audience to duet, stich and save my videos to their favorites.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I am very transparent. I provide clients with information and relevant facts so that they can make informed decisions. I keep personal opinions out of the information I provide and focus only on the facts and supporting data. I truly have a desire to help and am not motivated solely by money. I focus on a win-win solution for all parties involved in my transactions. I value all clients regardless of price point and treat everyone with the same level of high service. I have had the pleasure to assist many families who believed they could not purchase homes get into homes and begin to build equity and wealth for their families. The clients I have helped shared my information with their friends and family and helped to develop my network and sphere of influence.

Contact Info:

• Website: msha.ke/thatgirlchele/
• Instagram: thatgirlchele
• Facebook: Trachele C. Shields
• Linkedin: Trachele Shields
• Youtube: thatgirlchele
• Other: TikTok: Thatgirlchele

Image Credits
Meghan Davis- Daydream Design